


The Second Life of Caitlin Snow

by KairiGokuJr



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: But it's AU anyway so who cares, Caitlin Snow & Iris West Friendship, F/M, Fluff, Gen, I fudge the timeline a bit, Really it's just fluff, no real plot just happy fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2019-11-13 10:47:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18030278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KairiGokuJr/pseuds/KairiGokuJr
Summary: Caitlin and Julian have been back together for three wonderful weeks, picking up right where they left off before she went away. All she wants is to settle back into her normal life, but she learns that people and dynamics change when you're gone for six months. Not only that but it becomes nearly impossible to keep the secret life she led while away hidden from her from her friends. Caitlin must relearn what it means to be a reliable friend, an honest girlfriend, and most importantly, she has to learn what it means to be herself. S4 AU.





	1. Good Moods

This was the life.

Caitlin had been back with Julian and her team for a blissfully quiet three weeks now. She, Cisco, and Harry had had no leads on the origins of samurai robot that had reunited them, and there had been no serious trouble with meta-humans since The Flash made his triumphant return.

It had been three weeks of seeing Julian almost every day. Usually, it was just at the lab, but they'd gone out a few nights together. They didn't want to rush things, so they didn't want to make a habit of staying the night too often.

That hadn't stopped her from falling asleep on his couch tonight though. They'd gone back to his apartment after dinner to watch a movie together. She'd planned to go home afterward, but the sound of a phone ringing woke them from their sleep.

Caitlin drowsily opened her eyes as Julian answered his phone. Caitlin didn't lift her head from his chest as he talked. A minute later he tossed the phone aside and kissed the top of her head.

"Sorry, Love. Duty calls," he said.

Caitlin moved from atop him and stretched.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Nearly five," he said. "Apparently meta-humans don't like to cause shenanigans during the daytime."

Caitlin rubbed the sleep from her eyes. If Julian was getting called away to deal with meta-humans, there was no doubt she was going to be busy in a few hours as well.

"I should head home," she said.

"Nonsense. It's late. Or early. . . Either way, you should just go back to sleep," he said.

"If you insist," Caitlin said lying back on the couch. She was too tired to argue.

"The couch is lovely, but I'm sure my bed's more comfortable," he said.

"I'm sleeping in your apartment without you. I don't think I'll really be as comfortable anywhere in here alone," she said.

Julian paused on the way to his bedroom and leaned down to kiss her.

"If I were leaving for any other reason that would probably convince me to stay," he said.

"If it was any other reason, you probably wouldn't be going at all," Caitlin pointed out.

"Fair point," he agreed. He kissed her again and then walked into his bedroom.

Caitlin was content to go to sleep there on the couch, but a quick glance to her phone on the coffee table showed that she had unread texts.

_They miss you around the bar._

Caitlin stared at the screen for a moment as the message settled in. They were still looking for her, of course. She got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen. She grabbed a glass and filled it with water. She read the message beneath it.

_Amunet wishes you the best in your new relationship. Didn't know you were into cops._

Then there was a picture, taken at a distance of Caitlin and Julian walking into his apartment.

She reflexively looked over to Julian's bedroom. Were they threatening him? Would they really go after Julian to get to her? Caitlin's veins went icy with rage. She could feel it creeping over her slowly. The cold ran over her, coating her phone in a thin sheen of ice.

No, no, no, not here. Not now, she told herself. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She had to keep control.

Slowly, it started to recede. She felt the control coming back to her. She looked at her phone in her hand. The ice was gone, but the screen had gone dark and tiny droplets of water clung to the screen.

Awesome. Now Killer Frost had probably turned her phone into a brick.

"Caitlin?"

She dropped her phone into the glass of water and then pulled it out as Julian walked over to her.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I tried to hold my phone and get a glass of water at the same time. Probably shouldn't attempt that while half awake," she said.

"I think I've got some rice here somewhere," he said shuffling through the cabinets. "You go get into bed and I'll handle this for you."

Hesitantly, she handed her phone to Julian and walked into his room. She pulled off her slacks and climbed into his bed. A minute later, he returned with a zip-top bag filled with rice.

"If the internet is right, then in about a day or two your phone will be good as new," Julian said.

"The internet is never wrong, obviously," Caitlin replied, snuggling down under the covers. Julian chuckled and kissed her. Caitlin reached up and grazed her fingers across his cheek. She thought back to the text messages. Instead of anger, now she felt fear. Fear that he would walk out and something would happen to ruin the happiness that they'd cultivated again. She was afraid that _she_ was going to do something to ruin it again.

She ushered him into another, lingering kiss.

"I left you my key. I'll see you later," he said. "Get some sleep."

He walked out of the room and Caitlin listened as the front door shut behind him. She reminded herself that he was going to be surrounded by an army of cops and that he wasn't going to really be in any real danger. Not to mention he'd be with Barry. No way anything bad was going to happen with Barry keeping an eye on him.

Caitlin buried her face into his pillow. His scent hung heavily all around her. If she closed her eyes, she could almost pretend he was still there, that he was still safe, and that everything was still perfect.

* * *

 

When she woke up a few hours later, she was momentarily disoriented until she remembered she was still in Julian's apartment. She looked at the bag of rice sitting on his bedside table. Beside it was a key with a sticky note stuck to it.

_This is my only key. Don't lose it. Lock the door behind you. -Julian_

Caitlin wasn't eager to face the days to come, not with Amunet's threat out there. But she did want to check that Julian was okay, which she couldn't do with her phone currently dead in a bag of rice.

She dressed and made her way to her apartment where she showered and changed her clothes before heading to STAR Labs.

"There she is," Cisco said. "We've been trying to call you for like an hour."

Caitlin reached into her purse and pulled out the bag of rice and dropped it on the table.

"My phone is not operational at the moment," she said.

Cisco picked up the bag and opened it, examined it.

"Iris did the same thing with her phone like a month ago," Wally said.

"I forgot it was in my back pocket and it fell right into the toilet," Iris said with a nod.

"Well, if they made women's pocket normal sized it wouldn't be a problem," Caitlin said.

"Amen," Iris agreed.

"I can probably get this up and running for you," Cisco said.

"You know, on Earth-Two it's actually illegal for manufacturers to not standardize all sizing for men and women. All the pockets are the same size," Harry said.

"No wonder Jesse's clothes always fit her so well," Iris said wistfully.

They all chatted for a while, waiting for their friends inevitable arrive. Cisco worked quietly on her phone and she sat sipping coffee, trying not to be obvious about the fact that she was staring at him. Would he know that she'd frozen it and that was why it was busted? Or would he just accept that it was water damaged and think nothing of it?

About an hour later, Barry, Julian, and Joe arrived.

"How's your first day back at work?" Iris asked.

Julian grimaced, and Barry chuckled nervously. That seemed about right. Barry and Julian were always bumping heads. They didn't get along before Julian joined up with them. Since finding out that Barry was The Flash, they'd been mostly civil. Even close to friendly. Today seemed like they were a few steps backward.

"It's been super," Barry said.

"Except when you tripped me--."

"Hey, I fell too!" Barry said. "It was an accident."

"All right, you two," Joe said, stepping in. He was more than used to dealing with their bickering. "We got called in this morning for an apparent robbery-homicide at jewelry store. Probably would've been your typical smash and grab except the owner was there with his daughter finishing up some accounting work from the previous day."

Julian had made his way to a computer by this point and was already pulling things up.

"Sasha Lipscomb, the daughter was found behind the empty jewelry cases basically catatonic. When they finally got her to talk the only description she was able to give was that the man was exceptionally handsome and well put together. When he asked her to empty the cases she felt compelled to follow his instructions," Julian said.

"How was the owner killed?" Harry asked.

"From what Sasha said and the few tests we ran. . . Cats ate his face," Barry said.

"I'm sorry. Did you say 'cats ate his face' because that's what it sounded like you said," Cisco said.

"Unfortunately," Julian said, "that is indeed what he said. Apparently, whoever this man was, he was able to summon up a herd of cats who then mauled the owner's, Chester Lipscomb, face."

"Okay, if you guys have pictures of that, please keep them to yourselves," Iris said.

"Agreed," Caitlin said.

"Is a group of cats called a herd?" Cisco asked.

"A group of cats is a clowder or a clutter or a glaring," Caitlin said.

"How do you know that?" Wally asked.

"I had a cat phase in middle school," Caitlin said.

"So, they think this is a meta because of the cats?" Harry asked.

"Not just the cats," Barry said. "Sasha had this gel on her hands, and we found it on the jewelry cases and the floors. She said it was all over the guy. And the cats didn't go after her father until he touched him."

"We analyzed it at our lab, but we determined that it was just mucus and sweat," Julian said. "We thought it might be prudent if better trained eyes gave us a second opinion."

Caitlin nodded. Weird meta-human gel that could summon cats and control minds? That was definitely her area of expertise.

"I will take a look," Caitlin said.

"We searched through our databases to see if there were any similar crimes, but--."

"We haven't taken a swing at it," Cisco said. "Hope you can wait on that phone, Caitlin."

"No rush. I'll keep busy somehow," she said. It wasn't as if she used her phone for much these days anyway. She didn't use social media because anyone she'd talk to was either in the room with her or too involved with meta-humans and general vigilantism to be bothered with it. The only people looking for her were other wanted criminals. She wasn't in a rush to get her phone back.

Julian rose from his seat and he followed Caitlin through to the lab where he handed her a vial of clear gel.

"Mucus and sweat?" Caitlin asked, as she grabbed more vials of her own, ready to run it through her own machines.

"That's what it looked like," Julian said. "Neither of us feels compelled to help someone rob a bank and we haven't been attacked by cats, so it may be as innocuous as that." Caitlin raised an eyebrow. "Barry slipped in it on the floor and took me out with him. It got all over both of us."

"Right," she said. "I wondered what you two were bickering about today, although I guess it's nice that everything is business as usual."

She and Julian quickly got to work separating the gel so they could analyze it a few different ways. It was going to take a few hours before they had any results, but that was par for the course here.

Caitlin sat down at her computer in the lab, mostly to just throw out a Google search to see if 'mind control gel' turned up anything. She also sent a message to Felicity in Star City to see if ARGUS had seen anything like this before if it didn't all come down to meta-humans.

Julian sat beside her and she rested her head on his shoulder. It was nice that she could do that sometimes. Especially nice today after she'd spent part of the morning worrying about him. A bonus for her was that he smelled especially nice today.

"Is your cologne different today?" she asked.

"I don't wear anyway," Julian said. "Might interfere with anything I need to smell at crime scene."

Of course. She knew that. On top of that, he'd run out of his apartment this morning without showering. This was all in her head. She was definitely just happy to have him here again. She trailed her fingers up the back up his neck into his hair.

"You're in an especially good mood today," Julian said.

Caitlin nodded in agreement. She'd been super anxious since she'd gotten those text messages this morning, but now she was feeling much better.

Normally, she tried not to be overly clingy and affectionate with Julian at STAR Labs, but something had come over her and right now she didn't really care. She kissed him, and she'd intended to leave it at that, but then she couldn't stop. Her other hand came to rest on the side of his face. She pulled him closer, kissed him deeper, and breathed him in.

"Jeez in here, too?"

It was Cisco, with Wally in tow. Caitlin and Julian snapped away from each other. Julian seemed kind of startled that they had been making out at all. Caitlin knew she should've felt slightly embarrassed about being caught, but instead she was kind of annoyed at the interruption.

"This is a place of science. Keep your shenanigans at home," he said.

"We're in the wrong field, Cisco. Should've been crime scene investigators since clearly the ladies can't keep their hands off them," Wally said.

"Yeah, clearly," Cisco said narrowing his eyes on them. He pointed at them in warning. "Keep it under control. Don't make me get my spray bottle, you animals."

Wally and Cisco passed by the room, and Caitlin chuckled.

"Your good mood is going to get us into trouble," Julian whispered into her ear.

The hairs on Caitlin's neck stood up. A chill ran down her spine. She stood up from her chair and held a hand out to Julian.

"What?" he asked taking her hand. She pulled him up to his feet.

"This is gonna take a few hours, so we should go," she said.

"Go where?" he asked.

"Somewhere my good mood won't get us in trouble," she said.

Julian chuckled and they walked out of the lab. "Well, I haven't eaten yet, so we can go to my apartment and order in. I have some paperwork I need to get in order."

They left STAR Labs and walked back to Julian's apartment. He only lived a short 10-minute drive away so they made in there in no time. Julian shuffled around in his bag for his keys but Caitlin stopped him.

"I have your key," she said pulling it from her purse.

"Oh, right," he said taking it from her. "I'm glad one of us remembered."

"Why do you only have one copy of the key to your apartment?" Caitlin asked as Julian unlocked the door.

"Why would I need two?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Let's say for instance, and this is purely hypothetical, you forget you loaned your only copy to your girlfriend and then tried to open the door to your apartment," Caitlin said.

"Well if that's the case," Julian said as they stepped inside, "then it'd be my girlfriend who needs her own copy and not me who'd need a spare."

"Why do I need my own copy?" she asked, shutting the door behind herself.

"Let's say for instance, and this also purely hypothetical, my girlfriend stays the night and I have to leave early and she needs to lock the door behind herself," Julian said. Caitlin nodded. "I think my solution solves both our problems."

Caitlin sighed. "You're right. But I'll only let you give me a copy for emergencies."

"Absolutely," Julian said. "Wouldn't want you getting any ideas about getting comfortable here."

Caitlin rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile. She joined Julian in the kitchen where he was looking through takeout menus. She rested her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist. Everything about him was intoxicating today. If she could stay there wrapped around him forever she would.

"What are you in the mood for?" he asked, holding up the menus. Caitlin moved between him and the counter and took the menu from his hand and sat them down behind her. His hands rested on her hips and he pushed her back against the counter. "None of my options to your liking?"

She reached up and started to undo his tie. "I don't think they have what I'm in the mood for." She pulled the tie off and dropped it to the ground.


	2. Catnip, Crime Scene Investigators, and Keys

Caitlin was wondering why she didn't steal Julian away from work in the middle of the day more often. She was laying beside him in his hastily discard button down, full from their feast of Chinese food with him. He'd put his pants back on to answer the door when the food arrived and had been doing work since then between bites of lunch. He'd had to plead with her to keep her hands to herself, for a little while longer so he could get some work done. Even now as she laid happily beside him, she wanted him to ravage her again and again and again.

She felt like a different person today. She was so much more relaxed and happy. She could barely keep her hands off Julian. What had come over her? Caitlin didn't know. She didn't feel like she needed to complain about it either. Maybe it was just the extra shot of dopamine to her brain from being a new relationship that was overtaking her. She wanted to ride this feeling out as long as she could.

"We have to go back to STAR Labs soon," he said.

Caitlin sighed. That was the last thing she wanted to do right now. Finding out what Julian and Barry had found at their crime scene was not a high priority on her list right now.

"I know, but I promise, if you can behave yourself a while longer and we get this all sorted out, you can take advantage of me as much as you like," Julian said.

"Promise?" she cooed.

"Promise," he said. "Although I don't really feel like you'd give me a say in the matter. You're behaving kind of oddly today."

"Am I?" she asked.

"Yes," he said. "Not in a particularly bad way. You just seem a lot more. . . You're just _more_ in general today."

She laid her head in his lap as he closed his laptop. "I feel _more_ today." She wrapped her arms around him. "I don't want to do anything else but be here with you."

"I deduced as much," he said. Caitlin sat up and kissed him, and probably wouldn't have stopped herself if Julian hadn't put his hands on her shoulders to keep her at arm's length. "Sadly, there's a meta-human out there who can make--."

"Cats eat people's faces off, yeah," Caitlin said. She moved his arms away and kissed him again. She then forced herself out of bed and away from Julian.

They redressed and headed back to STAR Labs.

When they returned, everyone had gathered around the computer in the main room again. Cisco was shaking his head.

"What's happening?" Caitlin asked.

"Wally just met up with Catnip," Cisco replied. "That's what I called him since, it looks like he can get girls to do whatever he wants and just has cats attack anyone who doesn't fall in line."

"Well, it's just cats and girls. He should be able to handle that if the guy isn't fighting back," Julian said.

"You'd think that," Joe said.

"Imagine a swarm of 100 girls and cats just throwing themselves at you," Harry said.

"Not a good look for Kid Flash," Cisco said. "Definitely gonna bring down his street cred. I guess you can get too much pu--."

"Barry went to rescue him," Iris said.

"And whatever Catnip is doing he's definitely using his weird gel stuff to do it," Cisco said. "He got it all over Wally and the cats and the chicks swarmed."

"I'll go check to see if I've gotten any results on that sample Julian and Barry gave me earlier," Caitlin said. She finally managed to tear herself away from Julian to go to the lab alone. She got to her computer and saw that as of yet, the results still hadn't shown up, but any minute now, she knew the analysis would be finished. She didn't want to leave. It wasn't impossibly hard to fight women or cats, but if they didn't want to hurt civilians, they'd have to find a way to neutralize this guy's abilities.

"Hey, you're back." Barry walked into the room and sat beside Caitlin.

"So are you. How's Wally?" she asked.

"A little embarrassed and he's got a few scratches, but he'll live," Barry said. "You find anything yet?"

"Any minute now I'll have the results," she said. She clicked through her computer. She'd gotten a reply back from Felicity. "Luckily, ARGUS doesn't have any bio-chemical warfare that deal with female mind control or cat mind control so we can sleep peacefully knowing it's just a meta."

"If we sleep at all," Barry said with a sigh.

Caitlin looked over to him and smiled. She never noticed that Barry was so handsome before. The subtle stubble that was starting to poke up on his jaw. His soft, unthreatening smile. Those beautiful green eyes.

"What?" he asked her.

"Nothing," Caitlin said. "It's just, I never realized how attractive you were before, Barry." She leaned a fraction of an inch closer to him and Barry backed away the same amount.

He laughed nervously. "What are you talking about?"

"Just calling it like I see it," she said, flipping her hair behind her shoulder.

"You doing okay, Caitlin?" Barry asked.

"I'm great. I feel really great today. I feel _more_ today," she said.

Barry was smiling, but he was noticeably uncomfortable.

"I can tell," he said.

"Have you ever thought of me as more than a friend?" Caitlin asked. She pushed her chair over and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Haha. Nope. Because I love Iris, and you're with Julian. You're basically like a sister to me. So no. Nope," Barry said.

"Allen." The unmistakable voice of Julian rang out from the door. A giggling Iris stumbled into the room. "Can I have a word with you?" A moment later, Barry was at Julian's side and they'd slammed the door to the lab closed.

Iris came and sat beside Caitlin. The pair wasn't incredibly close, but Iris probably was her closest girl friend. The opposite was also true.

They sat in silence for a moment. Caitlin's head started to clear as if she'd been in a fog. Had she just been hitting on Barry? Barry? Of all people?

"Caitlin," Iris said. "Have you been feeling weird today?"

"Yes," Caitlin said immediately. "I think I just--."

"I _definitely_ tried to kiss Julian just now," Iris said.

Caitlin looked at the computer. The samples were done. Thank goodness.

"I didn't mean to," Iris said.

"No, it's fine," Caitlin said. "I definitely just tried to make out with Barry. Maybe it's something about crime scene investigators like Wally said."

"Wally?" Iris asked.

Caitlin's cheeks flushed pink. "Cisco and Wally saw me 'kissing' Julian this morning and Wally said that girls can't resist crime scene investigators." She pulled up the results of the sample onto her screen and Iris took hold of her hand. Caitlin looked over to her.

"This is a weird, personal question, but um, you and Julian left a little earlier than Barry I did today," she said. Caitlin nodded. Iris paused, trying to find the words. "I just. . . For some reason, I couldn't really control myself around Barry today. We had a. . . We both took a long lunch if you follow my meaning."

Caitlin was already nodding. "Yeah. Me too. Julian had to practically drag me to his apartment so I didn't pounce on him here." She looked at the results on the screen and her eyes lit up. "Oh, my god."

"What is it?" Iris asked.

"Julian said that he and Barry fell into this stuff earlier today at the jewelry store. It's mostly just sweat and mucus like Julian said, but there's androstenol too," Caitlin said.

Iris shook her head. "You're gonna have to dumb it down for me Caitlin."

Caitlin leaned forward and hit the intercom. "Guys get in here." As soon as her finger left the button, she had a thought. "Don't let Wally, Barry, or Julian in."

"Why?" Iris asked.

"Trust me. It's better for both of us if we stay away from them for the time being," Caitlin said.

Harry, Joe, and Cisco arrived first and Iris quickly shut the door behind them. Wally, Barry, and Julian stood on the other side frowning.

"Is everything okay?" Barry asked.

"It's fine," Caitlin said. "Iris and I just don't need to be anywhere near you three for the time being."

"She found out what's in that stuff you gave her this morning," Iris said.

"It's mostly sweat and mucus, like you said, but it's loaded with androstenol," Caitlin said.

"And that is?" Wally asked.

"It's a pheromone. Mostly pigs excrete it, but other mammals do too. Even humans, in urine mostly, but in small quantities, it's found in sweat. There've been studies that women are attracted to the smell," Caitlin said. Iris' eyes went wide with understanding. She buried her face in her hands.

"Oh, my God," she said. "You mean--."

"Yeah," Caitlin said with a nod. "Catnip uses this mucus that he excretes to basically brainwash women into doing whatever he wants because it's so loaded with so many pheromones that they can't help themselves."

"And that explains why you two have been acting like this place is a high school all day, just making out with your boyfriends whenever and wherever you see fit," Cisco said.

"I think Caitlin and I have a lot more to apologize for today than that," Iris said. "But yeah. It's all over Barry and Julian, and now Wally too."

"Our self-control or lack thereof can be dissected later," Caitlin said. "What's really important is what else this guy can do."

"The cats," Harry said. Caitlin nodded. "Once androstenol hits oxygen it breaks down and becomes androstenone."

"Neither of those has any real impact of guys, but androstenone is a pheromone that attracts cats. It's supposed to be used to calm them," Caitlin said.

"But if you stick a bunch of cats in a small place they're gonna start wildin'," Cisco said. Caitlin nodded.

"So how do we stop him?" Barry asked.

"Water," Caitlin said. "The pheromones are trapped inside the mucus he excretes, but water should break it down enough that it you can overtake him. A lot of water. If it's not wet enough everything will just be sticky."

"That's what she said," Cisco said. Caitlin rolled her eyes, remembering once again that Cisco was indeed her best friend and that he wouldn't even be working here if she hadn't pulled him into the fold.

"You have to use a lot of water. Practically drown him. You have to dilute it significantly," Caitlin said.

"If this stuff breaks down when it hits oxygen then why have you two been being so weird all day?" Wally asked.

"Mucus. It's trapping it, not allowing it to hit the oxygen," Caitlin said. "That's why Barry and Julian have seemed--."

"More irresistible than usual," Iris and Caitlin said in unison. They locked eyes for a moment and then laughed.

"Like I said. Water should neutralize him," Caitlin said. "A concussion might help too."

"Too bad we can't freeze him," Cisco said. He nudged Caitlin. "Might be nice if you still had your powers."

She chuckled nervously. Did he know? Had her phone given her away?

"Killer Frost and I were never really on the same page," Caitlin said.

"Then we'd better go find this guy," Barry said, tapping Wally on the shoulder. The walked away from the  doors. Cisco, Harry, and Joe followed. Iris looked from Caitlin to Julian still standing at the door. Iris gave her a nod, urging her to go over and talk to him.

Caitlin got up from her seat and walked over to the glass.

"Sorry that it's an excess of pheromones that's making you irresistible and not just your own charm," Caitlin said.

Julian shrugged. "Well after Iris tried to attack me--."

"'Attack' is a very strong word," Iris chimed in. Caitlin chuckled.

"I realized something was amiss. Especially after I saw you trying to get handsy with Barry."

"Yeah. Mostly just glad Cisco didn't see it or he wouldn't let me live it down," Caitlin said. "I'm also really glad I ran into Barry and not Wally."

"Same," Iris agreed.

Julian chuckled. "Can I tell you something?" Caitlin nodded. "I. . . Already have a spare key. The one I gave you this morning was the spare."

Caitlin cocked an eyebrow at him. "Why did you lie to me?"

"Well, when I wrote the note I assumed that you'd thought I was teasing you, but when you gave it back to me at the apartment today I realized you thought I was serious. And aside from it making sense for you to keep it, I want you to keep it," Julian said.

Caitlin sighed. She wanted to say no, to tell him not to give her the key, but her heart was so full. She was so happy. She felt ridiculous.

"I just don't want to screw things up by moving too fast," Caitlin said.

"Understandable," Julian said. "Still keep it for just emergencies. But. . . Emergencies can be if the thermostat in your apartment isn't working right, or if Miss Soriano is harassing you about her newspaper, or if you need to hide from Cisco the next time he wants to have celebratory waffles." Caitlin smiled. "An emergency can be any time you need me."

If Caitlin wasn't so sure that going on the other side of the door wasn't going to result in her immediately trying to take advantage of Julian for the third time today, she would have.

"I don't want to screw things up and move too fast either," Julian started, "but I've also got a feeling about you." He pressed his palm up against the glass and Caitlin placed her hand against his.

"I have a feeling about you too," she said. It was something she never expected herself to say ever again. After Ronnie died, she'd basically given up on everything and everyone. After things with Jay, rather Hunter Zolomon, she'd completely given up. And then she met Julian. And that's when her powers started to emerge and everything was too much.

But Julian made her so happy, happy in a way she hadn't been since she'd been with Ronnie. She really did have a feeling about Julian. She even felt like Ronnie would approve of Julian in some weird way. Ronnie would approve of her being happy.

Iris made a weird noise behind them. Caitlin turned and saw Iris with her face buried in her hands.

"I promise I'm not _trying_ to eavesdrop, but you're there and you guys are so cute," she said. Caitlin and Julian both laughed despite being embarrassed. "I don't know if this makes a difference, but everyone else has a feeling about you guys too."

* * *

Caitlin was, of course, right about her predictions about Catnip. At the end of the night, Cisco and Harry hosed down Wally and Barry's suits, and, along with Julian they were all mostly "decontaminated." Whatever was left on them would breakdown soon enough anyway.

It was late when everyone was finally leaving STAR Labs.

"Caitlin," Cisco said. He walked up to her and held out her phone. "Good as new."

"You're the best Cisco," she said, embracing him. She turned to Julian. "I just need to grab my bag and we can go."

Julian gave her a nod and she walked off. Cisco came to stand beside Julian and waited until Caitlin was out of earshot.

"I don't want to be all up in your business," he started still watching off where Caitlin had gone, "but has she said anything about what happened with her powers?"

Julian shook his head. "She just said they're gone."

Cisco nodded. "How did she say she messed up her phone?"

"Dropped it in a glass of water," Julian said.

Again, Cisco nodded. "I don't want to be 'that guy,' especially about this. Caitlin is one of my best friends, so as one guy who is trying to look out for Caitlin to another guy that is. . . That phone was frozen."

"Frozen?" Julian asked.

"Yep," Cisco said. "There were some cracks. Not big cracks. Stuff I could fix, but that phone was definitely really cold for a while." Caitlin still hadn't reappeared. "I don't think her powers are gone. I think she's got Frost under control, somehow, but maybe not as well as she wants to."

"She'd tell us," Julian said.

"I like to think she would," Cisco said. "But she didn't tell us before. And if she doesn't want us to worry about her now, would she really tell us?"

Julian couldn't help but agree. "I'll keep an eye on her."

Over the past six months, Cisco and Julian hadn't become incredibly close, but he trusted Cisco, and no one knew Caitlin better than Cisco for that matter. If Cisco was suspicious then they all had good reason to be.

"I didn't tell the other guys because they'd just confront her directly and then she'd probably freak out and bail again," Cisco said. "Just--."

"Remind her that she can trust us?" Julian asked. Caitlin was coming back down the hall. "I've got it covered."

Caitlin reached them and took Julian's hand. She was smiling and happy. If she was hiding her powers, it wasn't apparent right now.

"You ready to go?" she asked.

"Yep," Julian said. "Thanks for your help, Cisco."

"Anytime," Cisco said. "Take care of yourself, Caitlin. Stay away from pheromones."

"Ha-ha," Caitlin said flatly. "Goodnight, Cisco."

Caitlin and Julian walked to the elevator and stepped on. As the doors closed, she rested her head on his shoulder, holding his hand. The same intensity that had been radiating from her all day was gone. This was just, regular, gentle Caitlin. She still smiled when he looked at her and she squeezed his hand a little tighter. The thought that she might be hiding something sinister beneath the surface seemed absurd to him.

"Do you want me to drive you home?" he asked.

"No," she replied. The elevator doors opened and they stepped out. "Actually, I thought, if you were okay with it, I might just stay with you tonight."

Julian raised an eyebrow at her. "Really? Two nights in a row? That's against your ground rules isn't it?"

Caitlin shrugged.

"I mean, we were going to break them at some point, right?" she asked. "Why not tonight?"

"The logic is sound," Julian agreed, putting his arm around her. "But tomorrow--."

"I'll sleep in my own bed of course," she said. "I don't want you getting any ideas about me getting comfortable there." Julian laughed. "But as far as tonight goes, if I'm recalling correctly, you told me that if I behaved myself that you'd let me take advantage of you later."

Julian chuckled. "Even washed of all that meta-human gunk you still can't keep your hands off me?"

"I guess not," Caitlin said, taking hold of his hand.


	3. Better Than Good

All the rules had been thrown to the wind. Caitlin now a permanent toothbrush at Julian's apartment. She had two changes of clothes hanging up in his closet. He'd bought her her own shampoo and conditioner _and_ another set of towels. They were texting each other periodically about nothing throughout the day.

Caitlin was in deep and there was no going back.

"It's cute," Cisco teased her.

Caitlin rolled her eyes.

"I don't think I have any pictures of Gypsy now that I'm thinking about it," he added, mostly to himself. "But it's cute. Y'all are cute."

Cisco had glanced at her phone screen and saw that the lock screen was a picture of the two of them and had been periodically teasing her about it throughout the day.

"It's cool though," Cisco said. "Teasing aside, things seem good." Caitlin nodded. "So things are good?"

"Yep," she said. "Things are great."

"Oh, 'things are great.' That's even better than good," Cisco said. Caitlin couldn't help but smile. He was right. Things were better than good.

The only things that were not so good, were the occasional threatening text messages she got reminding her of her former life. She hadn't told anyone who she'd gotten involved with during those six months she'd been away from them. More than that, she hadn't told anyone that Killer Frost had resurfaced, despite her best efforts.

As long as she managed to stay relaxed and not get too upset or irritated, she kept that other part of herself at bay. Most of the time, it was easy to do. Other times, she was sure she would get found out. Especially by Cisco. She was sure there was something about her phone that had given her away. He hadn't asked her directly about Killer Frost, but he was constantly checking in, constantly referencing her, and was just generally suspicious.

Other than that, things were great.

"You have any fun plans tonight?" Cisco asked.

Caitlin shook her head. "Julian and Barry have to give some presentation the officers on meta-humans tonight, so I'm gonna catch up on my laundry and watch _Blue Planet_ all by myself."

Cisco scoffed. "Are you? Or are you gonna watch _The X-Files_ for the 500th time?" Caitlin stared at him for a long moment.

"Okay, I'm gonna watch _The X-Files_."

"Don't worry; your secret love affair with 1990's David Duchovny is safe with me," Cisco said.

"I'm not in love with David Duchovny," Caitlin scoffed.

"Oh, so then Gillian Anderson, because she can still get it," Cisco said.

"You have anything going on tonight?" she asked in return, rolling her eyes.

"As a matter of fact, Gypsy is supposed to come through tonight," he said.

"Well, enjoy yourself," Caitlin said.

"I will," he said with a wink.

"Don't be gross," she said.

Cisco laughed. "We're both better off than Wally though, I guess."

Caitlin sighed. Poor Wally had gotten sent a "Break Up Cube" from Earth-2 where Jesse had dumped him. They'd all had to watch as Harry explained what a Break-Up Cube was and how Wally and Jesse were officially over. It was bad. Wally left town to do his own thing and would be back in time for Barry and Iris's wedding, but in the meantime, Kid Flash was out of commission in Central City.

Just as Caitlin was going to change the subject, Barry, Iris, and Julian walked into the room.

"Hey, you're still here," Julian said. He walked over and kissed the top of her head.

"I was holding her hostage," Cisco said. "I know she's got lots of laundry to do."

Caitlin rolled her eyes. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We've still got a bit before our presentation so I offered to help Iris with an article she's working on," Julian said.

"That's nice of you," Caitlin said.

Iris and Caitlin weren't particularly close, just as Julian and Barry weren't close. However, in the six months that Barry and Caitlin were gone, Julian and Iris held down the fort at STAR Labs and ran point for Cisco and Wally, so they were actually pretty good friends now.

"You know, I was just telling Barry that we should all go out on a double date together," Iris said.

Caitlin looked over to Barry who smiled at Caitlin, indicating that she was more than welcome to back out on the offer.

"That sounds like a great idea," Julian agreed.

Well, that settled that.

"Barry and I are supposed to go to this couple's cooking class tomorrow night. It's a lot of fun. You should come with us," Iris said.

"Yeah, that sounds great, Iris. Thanks," Caitlin said. She picked up her bag from the ground. "I'm gonna head out now."

Julian kissed her. "I'll call you later." He then walked off with Iris.

"You guys are gonna have such a great time," Cisco said.

"We will," Caitlin said. "Besides, we could all stand to hang out more. It'll be a chance for me to get to know Iris better."

"Yeah, and maybe Julian will roll his eyes at me a little less afterward," Barry said.

"I doubt that," Caitlin said.

"Me too," Barry agreed. "So I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"I guess so," Caitlin said.

* * *

 

Caitlin spent an hour getting ready the next evening before the date. She'd never actually been on a double date before, so this was unexplored territory.

"You know, you see these two pretty much every day," Julian said as they walked up the stairs, following the signs for the cooking class.

"Yep," Caitlin said.

"You shouldn't be so worried," Julian said. "You're always saying you want me to get along better with Allen. And you and Iris are friends."

"Yeah, I guess," Caitlin said.

Unexplored territory, only kind of being friends with Iris, these things were only kind of bothering her. She'd gotten home last night to a note slid beneath her door. She knew, sooner or later, she was going to have to confront Amunet, and probably come clean to her friends. She just didn't want to have to come clean because one of them ended up getting hurt.

Most of the messages, to one degree or another, said that they were watching her and that her "cop boyfriend" wasn't going to be able to offer her any protection. Amunet absolutely knew all about Julian, probably even knew that he was a CSI and not actually a police officer. Definitely knew where he lived. There was no telling what else she knew. About Barry, Wally, and Cisco?

If she could make it through this evening without things going sideways, that would be all she wanted.

"Don't be so anxious," Julian said. "Is everything okay?"

Caitlin nodded. "I'm fine. I just need to get out of my head."

At the top of the stairs, they found the classroom, already full of couples chatting and drinking wine in front cooking stations. Barry and Iris waved to them and they joined them at their station.

"Just a heads up, but I'm kind of a terrible cook," Iris said, passing Caitlin a glass of wine, while Julian went to stand on the other side of the station with Barry across from them.

"Oh, I'm sure you're fine," Caitlin said. She pointed to Julian. "We're all going to look terrible in comparison to him anyway."

"I didn't know you cooked Julian," Barry said.

"I was probably a Michelin star awarded chef in a past life," Julian said without a hint of modesty.

Barry and Iris both laughed and, inside, Caitlin relaxed. Everyone else was trying to have a good time. If she was on edge the whole night, they would notice, or at the very least Julian definitely would.

Their teacher came up to them, aprons slung over her arm.

"Hi, I'm going to be running the class tonight," she said handing each of them an apron. "If my roster's right you must be Caitlin and Julian. I'm Lyla."

"Nice to meet you, Lyla," Julian said, shaking her hand.

Lyla chuckled and turned to Caitlin giving her a wink before walking away. Caitlin looked over to Julian.

"He's too charming for his own good sometimes," Caitlin said to Iris. "And he doesn't know how to turn it off."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I can't help that I have an accent that _you_ happen to think is 'cute' by the way," Julian said.

Barry and Iris laughed again and Caitlin felt her cheeks go red.

"I don't know that this will make you feel better, but everyone thinks his accent is cute," Iris said.

"You think his accent's cute?" Barry asked with a pout.

"Barry you've heard him talk before," Iris said. "Can you blame me?"

"She's right," Caitlin said.

Barry sighed. "I guess, even when you're being condescending I take it a little easier because of your accent."

"See, he can't turn it off," Caitlin said. "No one is immune."

"Least of all you," Julian said.

Caitlin's cheeks went hot again and she took a sip of her wine.

"Cait, I don't think I've ever seen your face so red before," Barry said.

"The wine won't help," Caitlin said, taking a drink from her glass. "And neither will that accent."

* * *

Caitlin had a good time.

No, she had a great time.

Julian was, as she predicted a magician in the kitchen. He'd made fresh pasta for her before, so when they did it in class, he was an expert. Their teacher fawned over him. Caitlin's pasta had come out pretty nice (although to be fair, she'd practiced with Julian once before). Barry's was a terrible lumpy mess, but he argued that since store-bought pasta was perfectly acceptable, Iris would never have to worry about him feeding her something gross.

They were walking together to get some ice cream after dinner, Iris and Julian were chatting away about where he learned to cook in London. Barry and Caitlin walked a few steps behind them.

"How are things going with Julian?" Barry asked.

"Really great, actually," Caitlin said. "I know you don't like him."

"That's not true. He's kind of an ass, but I think it's only because I'm not as smart as he is and he gets tired of me trying to keep up with him," Barry said. Caitlin laughed. "But he tolerates me a lot better now. I think we might even be friends."

"Wow, progress," Caitlin said.

"And you seem happy," Barry said. "I mean that. Everyone thinks so."

Caitlin sighed. "Iris mentioned something to that same effect to me recently. And Cisco."

"Well, I'm glad things are going great," Barry said. "Iris was really excited to have someone else to go out with aside from Joe and Cecile."

Joe and Cecile had announced recently that they were pregnant. Caitlin liked Cecile a lot, especially since they'd been helping everyone in Caitlin and Barry's absence. It still made Caitlin a little uncomfortable hanging out with a district attorney and being a wanted criminal. She'd never even visited Julian at work because when they'd gone to retrieve Barry from the police station, one of the officers joked that she had a passing resemblance to Killer Frost.

"I guess double dating with your dad might get pretty boring," Caitlin said.

"And I'm really glad you and Iris are hanging out," Barry said. "You know you're like her only _real_ girl friend."

"That can't be true," Caitlin said.

"She spends all her time with us," Barry said. "I mean, name one other friend you have outside of us—and don't say, Felicity, because she doesn't count."

Caitlin pouted. Barry was right. If you took Barry and Cisco who were each other's best friend, and Julian who was her boyfriend, out of the equation, Iris kind of was her best friend, and vice versa. And with Barry and Caitlin being so close, it made sense that he'd want his fiancé to be close with Caitlin too.

Especially since it kind of looked like they didn't have anyone else but each other. With the kind of lives they lived, helping Barry and all that, having a best friend who understood all of that was kind of essential.

As they reached the end of the block and waited for traffic so they could cross the street, there was a loud explosion. A block ahead, a building erupted in fire. Caitlin looked over, but there was a pile of clothes where Barry had been and he was gone.

Caitlin, Iris, and Julian ran ahead to see what was happening at the building. Civilians were watching from the street and there was no sign of Barry.

Caitlin's phone rang in her pocket. She answered quickly.

"Flash?" she asked.

"I'm gonna need some help around the back of the building," he said. "Uh, just, all of you guys come back here."

Caitlin hung up the phone and motioned for the others to follow her. They crept along the side of the building, being sure to keep out of sight of the other and got to the back of the building.

Barry stood there, over someone.

"Is he okay?" Iris asked.

"Uh, I think so, but," Barry knelt down and grabbed the guy's leg. It stretched. And stretched. And stretched.

"A meta," Julian said.

"Yeah," Barry said. "And I know him. He used to be a detective with CCPD."

"What should we do?" Caitlin asked.

"I'll go get the car and bring it round back so we can take him to STAR Labs," Julian said. He motioned to the end of the alley. "Just get him to there and I'll be back in five minutes."

"I'm going to make sure no one else was inside," Barry said.

Julian and Barry both took off, leaving Iris and Caitlin to do their best to pick up the man on the ground, trying not to tug or pull on him so he wouldn't stretch out as they moved him.

They debated for a moment about whether or not they should bundle him up, but things were getting crazy at the end of the street and there was no way they'd go unseen if they took too much longer.

They dragged the ex-detective down the street. Caitlin couldn't help but laugh to herself.

"I should've guessed this would happen," she said.

"What?" Iris asked.

"That going on a date with your fiancé would end up with him running off to save the day," Caitlin said.

Iris laughed. "I can't tell you how many dates he's bailed in the middle of to save lives. It's annoying in the moment, but he always makes it up to me."

"That's good at least," Caitlin said.

They reached the corner just as Julian pulled up. They piled the man into the car as quickly as they could and took off.

"I already contacted Harry and Cisco so they should be there when we arrive," Julian said.

They drove to STAR Labs where, thankfully, all hands were on deck to help get the stretchy man into the med bay. Caitlin got him hooked up to monitor his vitals.

"Everything seems normal. I think he's just out of it because he's got a concussion from the explosion," she said. Caitlin turned to Julian. "Do you know who this is? Barry said he used to work for CCPD."

Julian shook his head. "Must've been before I started working there."

Barry arrived a moment later.

"How is he?" he asked.

"Seems fine," Caitlin said. "Except for the--."

"Stretchiness," Cisco said.

"Who is this guy?" Iris asked.

"Ralph Dibny," he said.

Iris nodded. "Oh. I remember my dad talking about him."

"He used to be a detective at CCPD when I was a junior CSI. I worked with him a lot, but there was one case where he planted evidence. I ended up testifying against him in court. Dibny lost his job," Barry said.

"What's he been up to since then?" Caitlin asked.

"Private investigator from the looks of it," Barry said holding out a slightly singed business card. "Looks like he made someone mad. It was his apartment that was blown up."

Julian's phone rang and he answered it quickly. "Hello. . . Yes, I'll be right there." He put the phone in his pocket. "Speak of the devil."

"We'll see what we can find out from Dibny when he wakes up," Barry said.

Julian gave him a nod and headed back to the crime scene.

"I'd suggest letting him sleep off this concussion," Caitlin said. "I don't think he'll be out for too much longer. In the meantime, I'm going to see if I can help get him back to normal."

* * *

 

It was weird. Totally weird. Caitlin was looking Ralph Dibny's DNA, half awake at her computer and had noticed something bizarre. Just as she was getting up to go find Cisco and Harry, they joined her in the med bay.

"Dibny wasn't in Central City when the particle accelerator exploded," Cisco said.

Caitlin nodded. "Even more weird than that is it looks like he was basically just nuked with dark matter." She slid to the side to show her companions the screen. "The particle accelerator wouldn't have caused this."

"Then what did?" Cisco asked.

"We did," Harry said.

"How?" Caitlin asked.

"When we let Barry out of the speed force," Harry said.

Caitlin and Cisco exchanged a look, then they turned to the still unconscious Ralph Dibny.

"We've gotta find out where he was when Barry came out of the Speed Force," Cisco said. "There's definitely more metas out there."

* * *

 

Caitlin woke up the sound of screaming. The sun was up now. She'd fallen asleep at the computer. She jumped to her feet and saw Ralph Dibny wide awake.

She rushed over to him, as Cisco, Barry, and Iris entered the room as well.

"Calm down, calm down," Caitlin said.

"Who are you people? What did you do to me?" Ralph shouted.

"That's kind of a loaded question," Cisco muttered. Caitlin shoved him, urging him to be silent.

"You're at STAR Labs," Barry said.

Ralph went silent and glared at him. "Well, if it isn't Barry Allen." Barry sighed. "So in addition to ruining my life, you've decided to kidnap me and turn me into a monster?"

"You're not a monster. You were exposed to Dark Matter radiation. You're just a meta-human now," Caitlin said, still trying to calm him.

"There was an explosion at your apartment. The Flash found you and brought you here," Barry explained.

"And why would he bring me here?" Ralph asked.

"Because he knows we can help you," Barry said. "You might try being a little thankful. He did save your life. And Caitlin here has been keeping an eye on you all night."

"Well, thank you for that, now put me back to normal," Ralph demanded.

"I'm working on it," Caitlin said. "It'd be kind of cruel to just leave you like this. Don't worry, I'll get you right in no time."


	4. When Pipes Freeze Over

Ralph Dibny was chatty and kind of annoying.

"Do you have a boyfriend Caitlin?" he asked her. She was filling up a cup with a serum that she'd synthesized for him that would help him control his abilities.

"I do," she said.

"Oh," Ralph said, sounding kind of surprised. "You just seem like you spend all of your time here and you're not trying very hard. I just assumed you had no one to impress."

Caitlin rolled her eyes. "As it turns out, those things aren't mutually exclusive with being in a relationship."

Cisco came to the door of the med bay and looked around. "Have you seen a big Machetè lookin' dude around here?"

"No," Caitlin replied.

"Cool. I'm leaving. If you see him, you never saw me. You don't even know me," Cisco said.

"What are you talking about?" Caitlin asked.

"Oh, it's just Gypsy's dad. He might be trying to murder me in a really weird game of hide and seek, but it's fine. Under control," Cisco said. "I'll be around." Cisco ran off and Caitlin sighed. Just another day at STAR Labs, apparently.

"That little guy isn't the boyfriend is he?" Ralph asked.

"Cisco? No. His name's Julian. He works with Barry actually. He's the senior lab tech at CCPD," Caitlin said. "He's been at your apartment all night trying to figure out how you got blown up."

"Ah, so he's a part of your little team too presumably," Ralph said. "And how did the Flash manage to collect so many of you?"

"He didn't collect us. When The Flash first got his powers, Barry, Cisco and I helped him learn to use them. The Flash trusts us and he needs a team to help him do what he does. And it helps to have a specialist in meta-human forensics and the lead investigator for CCPD's meta-human task force on your side," Caitlin said.

"I wouldn't exactly call Barry an 'expert'," Ralph scoffed.

"Well, I would," Caitlin said, "but I was actually talking about Julian who is CCPD's specialist in meta-human forensics."

"At the very least it sounds like they've got someone with a brain working in the lab now," Ralph said.

"Barry has plenty of brains," Caitlin said holding the serum to him. "Drink this. I used your DNA from before you were exposed the Dark Matter to make this. It should help your body revert back the way you were before you were exposed. It's not going to take away your powers, but it will help you control them."

Ralph drank the serum down and his outstretched legs snapped back to normal almost instantly. He looked rather pleased.

"How far back is this supposed to revert me?" Ralph asked. Caitlin shrugged and Ralph lifted up his stomach. Where he'd been significantly pudgy before, his stomach was now flat and even a little bit toned. "Well, maybe this isn't so horrible."

"Hello." Caitlin looked over and saw Julian entering the room. "Not interrupting am I?"

"Not at all," Caitlin said.

"I see you've got Mister Dibny back to his normal state," Julian said.

"Mostly," Ralph said, stretching his finger and then watching it snap back into place.

"Ralph, this is Julian," Caitlin said.

"Oh. I see Central City had to go across the pond to find someone competent," Ralph said. "Good for you though, Caitlin. He's better than what I was expecting."

Caitlin turned to Julian. "Ralph is delightful."

"Apparently so, seeing as his apartment was the one targeted for the explosion," Julian said. "I'm sure you made as many friends being a private investigator as you did being a detective. Someone was trying to return the favor."

"I can't imagine why. I was doing very honest work," Ralph said.

"Just as you were for CCPD I've heard," Julian said.

"You know, that accent makes you sound very pretentious and condescending," Ralph said.

"Sorry," Julian said. "I am actually being pretentious and condescending. I'll try to be more clear about that in the future."

"Your boyfriend is not nice Miss Snow," Ralph said.

"It's _Doctor_ Snow, and we're working on my social skills," he said. "In the meantime, who did you make angry enough to murder you?"

Ralph grimaced. "Yesterday afternoon some goons from the mayor's office came by to threaten me."

"You have dirt on the mayor?" Caitlin asked.

"I work mostly on infidelity cases," Ralph said, waggling his eyebrows.

Caitlin looked over Julian. "Is Joe here?" Julian nodded.

"Before I meet with my former colleague, might you point me in the direction of the john?" Ralph said getting to his feet. Caitlin directed him and as soon as he was out of earshot, she turned to Julian.

"'He's better than I was expecting?'" Julian asked.

Caitlin waved a dismissive hand. "He assumed I was single, so I guess he was surprised that frumpy, little me snagged someone as handsome as you."

Julian scoffed. "He was probably just disappointed that you were off the market already. Anyone would be lucky to have you."

"Well you do," Caitlin said.

"That's how I know," Julian said.

Caitlin chuckled. "By the way, I really liked when you told him to call me _Doctor_ Snow."

"I don't think you spent all that time in college and med school for some half-wit failed detective turned terrible private investigator to call you 'Miss'," Julian said. "Don't know why I don't call you Dr. Snow."

"Probably because you're my boyfriend and it'd be weird," Caitlin said. "But, thank you for making sure people respect and acknowledge my academic achievements. I love you."

Julian took her hand and pulled her to him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her. "Want to know something?"

"Hmm?"

"This, right here, is the first time you've told me you love me," he said.

Caitlin blinked at him. "No it isn't." Julian nodded. "Really?"

"Yes, why would I make that up?" Julian asked, almost laughing.

"Why wouldn't you say something before?" she asked.

"Because I'm not an insecure teenager. I know how you feel about me whether you say it or not. You've always done things at your own pace and lucky for you, I am a patient man," Julian said.

"Too patient sometimes," Caitlin said. "I do love you. Even if I, apparently, never say it."

Julian kissed her and she draped her arms over his shoulders and kissed him back, leaning into him.

"All right, science geeks," Ralph said, returning to the room. Caitlin and Julian pulled away from each other. Ralph stood there blinking at them. "Didn't mean to interrupt."

"Let's get this over with," Julian said.

They led Ralph to the cortex where everyone was gathered.

"I see Caitlin got you back to normal," Barry said.

"Yep. Better than ever," Ralph said. "So I'll just be on my way--."

Julian grabbed his arm and pushed him towards Joe.

"Evidently, he was recently paid a visit by two people from the mayor's office," Julian said. "It seems the leader of our fair city has reason to go after Dibny."

Joe sighed. "I am not looking forward to this conversation."

"Oh, it's not so bad. So, the mayor likes to cheat on his wife. The mayor of Star City is probably the Green Arrow," Ralph said.

"That's literally the dumbest thing I've ever heard," Iris said.

"Yeah. I think Oliver Queen has better things to do with his time than be a vigilante," Caitlin said.

"Yeah, and he looks buff in all his pictures, but he's really, like, not even as muscley as you think he is," Barry said.

". . . That's a weird observation to make," Iris said.

"I realized that after I said it," Barry said.

"You guys really like Oliver Queen here," Ralph said.

"I'm gonna head downtown. Dibny, come with me," Joe said, getting everyone back on topic. "You too, Barry. The mayor's always liked you."

Caitlin waved goodbye with a yawn.

"Where's Cisco been?" Harry asked.

"He said something about Gypsy's dad trying to kill him, but assured me he had it under control," Caitlin said. "Something about a big Machetè looking dude."

"Never ceases to amaze me the trouble you all get into," Julian said.

"That's gotta be stressful," Iris said. She turned to Julian. "We should bring back Self Care Saturdays."

Julian nodded in agreement. "I think you're right."

Caitlin went to ask what Self Care Saturday was, but instead, she yawned again.

"When's the last time you slept in a bed and not at a computer in the med bay?" Harry asked.

Caitlin nodded. "Two days ago, I think. I should go home. Call me and I'll be back in a hurry."

"I'll walk you out," Julian said.

Caitlin yawned again as they reached the elevator. "I didn't even realize I was tired until Harry said something."

"Well, now you can rest," Julian said. Caitlin pushed the button to the elevator and rested her head on Julian's shoulder.

"What's Self Care Saturday?" Caitlin asked

"Promise you won't laugh?" Julian asked. Caitlin nodded. "Iris, Cisco, and I would get together on Saturday nights, in the event that there weren't any meta-human related crises to prevent us from doing so, and we'd watch a movie, and drink wine, eat pizza and just engage in the general act of self-care."

"That sounds nice," Caitlin said. She could imagine them sitting around Iris' loft on her couch, watching TV, laughing with each other. Caitlin thought back to all the Saturdays she'd spent at the bar, sticky and covered in liquor, or Saturdays she could only barely piece together because Frost had been running the show.

"You should come next time," Julian said. "You could do with a little self-care."

"No. It's your thing. I don't want to intrude," Caitlin said. The elevator opened and they stepped inside.

"You know, the whole time you were gone, we were wishing you were there with us," Julian said. "So it's not really wish fulfillment." They stepped onto the elevator and the doors closed.

"I'll think about it," Caitlin said.

"You should really consider it," Julian said. "You don't really set aside time for yourself."

Caitlin scoffed. "Yeah, I do."

Julian shook his head. "You're always with me or you're here. And even when you are supposed to be enjoying yourself sometimes you just seem very. . . Far away."

Between trying to keep her head on straight so her blonder, meaner counterpart didn't make an appearance and always looking over her shoulder for people from her brief foray into the criminal underworld, it made sense that she'd seem a little far away.

The elevator doors opened and Caitlin kissed Julian again. "I'll think about it."

* * *

Caitlin slept for what felt like an eternity. If her phone rang during the night, she didn't hear it. When it rang beside her the next morning, she reached out from under her blankets and pulled the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" she answered drowsily.

"Did I wake you?" Julian asked.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Almost nine," Julian replied. "Did you want to go back to sleep?"

"No," she said, sitting up. "I think 14 hours of sleep is enough."

"Want me to make you breakfast? I can tell you all about how the mayor tried to kidnap Detective West and also how Gypsy's dad tried to murder Dibny," Julian said.

"That all sounds too ridiculous to be made up," Caitlin said.

"I just pulled up to your building. I'll be up in a minute," he said.

She hung up the phone and sat up stretching. Her phone vibrated again and she looked at the screen. He stomach went into knots as she saw that familiar number appear with a text message. She unlocked the screen and read the notification.

_Your boyfriend seems nice._

A second later, she was on her feet and moving to the door. They hadn't done anything to him, had they? She knew they were watching her and she was still trying to go about life as usual. She should've just stayed at STAR Labs.

Just as she reached the door and pulled it open, startling Julian who had his key in hand open the door. Caitlin said nothing tossed her arms around him, relief washing over her.

"Fourteen hours and you missed me already?" he laughed.

"I guess so," she said.

Julian wrapped his arms around her. "As glad as I am to see you, I feel obligated to tell you that you're not wearing pants."

Caitlin let him go and looked down at herself. She was wearing just her t-shirt and no pants. Had she really planned on trying to save Julian without any pants?

She backed into her apartment and Julian followed, closing the door behind him.

"Is everything okay?" Julian asked.

Caitlin nodded. She didn't know why she was still lying. Why couldn't she just tell Julian what was going on? He'd understand, right?

"So, Iris pretty much demanded that you come tonight," Julian said. "I think she threatened to come kidnap you herself if you don't."

Caitlin sighed. She wasn't feeling much like hanging out tonight. She wanted to figure out a way to deal with the hell spiral her life was currently circling into.

"We'll see. I think I need to finish waking up before I make any plans for tonight," she said instead.

"Good idea," Julian said. "Breakfast first."

* * *

After Julian left that morning he did give Iris a heads up that Caitlin was most likely going to be a no-show. She didn't seem too excited about the prospect of leaving her apartment today. Instead, Iris suggested they bring the self-care night to her.

Julian thought it would be a good idea. Caitlin had seemed even more distracted than usual all morning. Something was bothering her. Maybe if they finally got her to relax, she might open up a little more.

As he, Iris, Barry, and Cisco climbed the stairs, Julian saw Caitlin's neighbor coming down the stairs, a suitcase in hand.

"Good evening, Mrs. Soriano," Julian said.

She smiled at him but seemed confused.

"Hello," she said. "I'm surprised to you see you here."

"Why's that?" he asked.

"Flood. Some pipes on the fourth floor exploded. Caitlin is right under their apartment so she got the worst of it. She said there's about an inch of water in her bathroom and kitchen and bedroom," Mrs. Soriano said. "Super said it'll be a few weeks to fix all the damage."

"Ooh, homegirl is definitely gonna need some self-care after that," Cisco said.

"Anyway, she packed a suitcase and said she was going to see you about an hour ago," Mrs. Soriano went.

Julian had not spoken to Caitlin at all since he'd left her this morning. And seeing as he'd left his apartment no more than 15 minutes ago, she certainly wasn't there.

"I'm going to stay with my sister-in-law. Might not even come back. This building is a pit," Mrs. Soriano said stepping past them. "What kind of building lets their pipes freeze in this weather anyway?" She continued down the stairs without another word.

Julian pulled out his phone and called Caitlin.

Straight to voicemail. He turned to the others, fear tightening in his chest.

"Something's not right," Barry said.

"That's an understatement," Julian said.

"We should get to the lab. We'll be able to find her where ever she," Cisco said.

* * *

When Caitlin left her apartment, she'd packed a suitcase and had been planning to leave Central City. The last thing she'd remembered was opening her door to see Norvok standing there. A while later, she was sitting on the floor of her bathroom, the ceiling was gushing water down from above. She'd gotten to her feet and saw that her entire apartment was filled with water.

The superintendent had come to take a look and declared "Frozen pipes" to be the cause of the flood. It would take a couple of weeks to everything all fixed up—the ceiling, the pipes, the carpets, the walls. He couldn't for the life of him understand how the pipes had frozen.

But Caitlin knew.

She'd just exited her building, running through places she could possibly escape to when things went dark again.

Killer Frost had no intention of running from Amunet Black. She was done being her little crony.

But first, she was going to have to actually find Amunet. Since Norvok was no longer anywhere in sight, she was going to have to put in a little extra legwork to find her. Lucky for Killer Frost, Caitlin had lots of connections.

After arriving at STAR Labs, she tossed Caitlin's suitcase aside and headed to a computer in the med bay. Killer Frost was very familiar with Amunet's powers and the kinds of metal she could control. Find a high concentration of that and she'd find Amuet.

She was just in the middle of punching it into the computer when someone entered the room. Killer Frost turned her head and saw Ralph Dibny standing there. He stared at her for a moment and then smiled.

"Hello," he said, an attempt at smoothness evident in his voice. "Didn't know there were any blondes around here."

"As charming as I'm sure you are, I'm a little busy," Killer Frost said.

"Well, maybe I can help," Ralph said. He walked up and placed his hand on her shoulder. In an instant, she was on her feet and she shot a blast of ice from her hands and froze Ralph against the wall.

"I don't really like being touched without permission," she said. "Hasn't anyone ever told you how to treat a lady?"

The results of her search appeared on the computer. She stepped over to the screen and scoffed.

"Throwing another rave in the warehouse district?" Killer Frost rolled her eyes. "I could have guessed."

There was the soft hum of machinery behind her and she turned, just narrowly avoiding being blasted by something. Standing in the doorway was Harry. Killer Frost ran at him, knocked the gun from his hand and then kneed him in the stomach, following it up with a swift kick to the head. He laid on the ground unconscious.

"That was rude," she said. She grabbed his legs and dragged him to the bathroom. She froze the door shut and turned back to Ralph. "I didn't want him following me when he woke up. I'm sure he'll understand. It's better than me killing him, right? I'm sure Caitlin's friends'll like that too. They want her retaining every modicum of her innocence I'm sure." She walked up to Ralph and gave him a firm pat on the cheek. "Of course I know a lot about what Caitlin and that boyfriend of hers get up to; innocent isn't really the word I should be using."

Ralph shook his head. "You're a psycho, but it's kind of hot."

Killer Frost placed a hand over his mouth and iced it over. "That's enough chit chat for now. I've got somewhere to be."


	5. The Truth & Self-care

Julian was hopeful that when they got to STAR Labs, Caitlin would actually be there. She'd tell him that she lost the key to his apartment and that the flood had ruined her phone so she came to the lab to wait it out. He was unsurprised when she wasn't there.

"I thought she got rid of Killer Frost or got her under control or something," Iris said as Cisco hopped onto the computer.

"That's what she told us," Julian said. "But, we've had our doubts."

"We?" Barry asked.

"She had me fix her phone that day all that stuff with Catnip went down. She said she bricked it when she dropped it in some water, but she definitely froze it," Cisco said.

"So, Frost isn't gone?" Barry asked.

"We figured she'd talk about it whenever she was ready," Julian said. "But there must be something else going on that's she's not talking about."

"Uh, yeah there is," Cisco said pointing at the screen. "I hacked her phone to see if we could ping her GPS, but since she's not an idiot she's got it turned off. I did peep her text messages though."

"What'd you find?" Julian asked.

"Well, first of all, I skimmed past some of the stuff you guys talk about and y'all are nasty," Cisco said. Julian rolled his eyes. "But, she's got a lot of messages and pictures from some unlisted number. She doesn't respond to any of them, but most of them are pretty sketchy. Someone was stalking her."

"Stalking her?" Julian asked. "Why wouldn't say someone was stalking her?"

"Probably because they were mostly stalking and threatening you," Cisco said. "This morning she got a message that said 'Your boyfriend seems nice.'"

Julian looked at the time stamp on the message. "This morning. . . She got this right when I got to her apartment. There was a guy outside."

"Who?" Barry asked.

Julian shrugged. "Some guy with an eye patch. I'd seen him there a few times before. He usually stands outside the building smoking. I just assumed he lived there."

"Creepy dude with an eyepatch doesn't set off red flags for you?" Cisco asked.

"There are dozens of people in Caitlin's building who set off red flags. It really is kind of a pit," Julian said.

"Fair," Cisco said. "But you think eyepatch guy is the texter?"

"I usually just walk past him, but he dropped his phone and I handed it back to him. He said thank you," Julian said.

"You know. . . When I found Caitlin at that bar, there was some dude hovering and he had an eyepatch," Cisco said. "I think eyepatch guy is just muscle for someone else. He keeps talking about someone named Amunet."

"Why does that name sound familiar?" Barry asked.

Suddenly Iris let out a scream. They all turned around and saw a hand on her leg, stretching from down the hall.

"Dibny," she said with a sigh of relief. They followed the arm down the hall to the lab where Ralph was partially frozen to a wall, his mouth covered by ice. "I'll go get him a blanket."

Barry freed him from the ice and Ralph shivered where he stood until Iris returned with the blanket.

"What happened?" Cisco asked.

"Some hot blonde chick walked in here and froze me to the wall," Ralph said. "She stuck Harry in the bathroom."

"What did she want?" Julian asked as Barry ran off to free Harry.

"She was looking something up in the computer," Ralph said.

Barry returned with Harry as Cisco looked at the computer.

"She was looking up large deposits of metal, an alnico alloy," Cisco said. "Was she trying to find a meta?"

"Duh," Ralph said. "You said so in the other room. Amunet."

"Amunet?" Julian asked.

"Amunet Black," Ralph said.

"Who?" Cisco asked.

"You're supposed to protect people from crazy meta-humans and you don't even know who Amunet Black is?" Ralph asked.

"Are you going to tell us who they are or are you going to stand there and continue to be annoying?" Julian asked.

"You guys are serious? She's basically the queen of the meta-human criminal underworld in Central City," Ralph said. "Hot, blonde, evil chick seems like she'd run with that crowd."

"That was Caitlin, you idiot," Julian said.

"Oh," Ralph said, seeming disappointed. Julian rolled his eyes.

"We just need to find this Amunet woman," Cisco said.

"Good luck," Ralph scoffed. "The police haven't been able to pin her down yet. You think you can?"

"We might not be able to find Amunet directly, but we can find Caitlin. If her frosty side comes up we can track her cold signature," Cisco said. "And, boom. Looks like Killer Frost has definitely come out to play."

They looked at her location on the screen.

"Warehouse district," Julian said.

"I'm on it," Barry said. A second later he was gone.

"Why wouldn't she tell us what was going on?" Iris asked.

"We don't even know what was going on," Julian said. "Whatever she was involved with after she left, she didn't talk about. She said she just wanted to put it all behind her."

"Whatever it was, it caught up with her," Cisco said.

* * *

 

Barry was back 10 minutes later with Caitlin. She was unconscious after she and Amunet Black had gotten into a street fight.

"This Amunet woman is next level," Barry said pulling his mask off. "She was definitely looking to kill Caitlin if I hadn't shown up. Can probably say the same for Killer Frost though. There's definitely some bad blood there for some reason."

Julian shook his head. How did he miss this? He knew something was going on. He tried to give her space, to let her talk to him about it when she was ready. Maybe he should've tried harder.

Caitlin opened her eyes and brought her hand to her face which was scratched and bruised. She sat up, holding her head, and looked around. She looked panicked.

"Oh no," she said.

Cisco nodded. "Girl you got some 'splaining to do."

"Let's let her get cleaned up first before you lay into her," Iris said. "She does have a concussion." She held out her hand to Caitlin. She only hesitated a moment before she took Iris's hand and let her be led away from the med bay.

Julian shook his head.

"Dude, if you're thinking about blaming yourself for whatever this is, if she didn't want to tell us we weren't gonna find out," Cisco said.

"But we _did_ know. We should've just confronted her about this ages ago," Julian said. "We should've tried to help her."

"Let's just wait for her to explain herself," Barry said.

A few minutes later, Caitlin returned to the med bay. She'd changed her clothes and was now sporting a tank top and a pair of jeans and held a sweatshirt in her hands. She didn't make eye contact with anyone in the room. Instead, she started gathering tools for stitches.

"While I was gone I found Amunet Black. She had some tech that was supposed to help me get control of Killer Frost. In exchange for her help, I used to work for her as muscle kind of," Caitlin said. "After Cisco found me and we got Barry back, I told her I was done. . . She wasn't too excited about me bailing obviously. . . And obviously, the tech didn't work and now I'm constantly fighting to keep Killer Frost under control and ever since I came back she's been having another one of her cronies, Norvok, follow me and just generally harass me. And then he showed up at my apartment and. . . Next thing I know my apartment's flooded. . . Any other questions?"

"Why didn't you tell us?" Barry asked.

"We're your friends. We could've helped you," Cisco said.

Caitlin shook her head. She was clearly overwhelmed and probably still fuzzy from the concussion.

"Let's give her some space," Julian said.

Cisco, Barry, Harry, Ralph, and Iris, took the hint and left the med bay. Julian stayed as Caitlin lifted herself onto the bed and sat her sweatshirt aside. Julian looked at the gash in her arm and walked over to her.

"I can do your stitches for you," Julian said.

"I've got it," she replied.

"Caitlin," he said, placing a hand on hers. She looked him in the eye for the first time since she'd showed up. She looked so tired and so scared. "Let me help you."

Finally, she gave him a nod. They were silent as he cleaned the gash on her arm.

"Do you remember anything?" Julian asked.

Caitlin shook her head. "I usually don't remember much when she's at the helm."

"Which is why you don't remember flooding your apartment," Julian said. "Frozen pipes are very uncommon in this neck of the woods."

"I'm aware," Caitlin said.

"Poor Mrs. Soriano had to go stay with her sister in law," Julian said. "She mentioned that you packed a suitcase also and that you were going to my apartment, which is funny because I don't recall seeing you there. So where were you going?"

"I didn't know," she said. "Somewhere far away from the mess I made."

Julian nodded. "You should've told me."

"I wanted to, but I was afraid," Caitlin said. "Everything with us was finally working out and I didn't want to ruin it. Plus, I was ashamed that I even had to get involved in a criminal enterprise basically for nothing."

"Running away wasn't going to solve your problems," Julian said. "Probably just make more."

"I guess I should've learned that the first time. . . I might not have gotten myself into trouble in the first place," Caitlin said. ". . . I'm sorry I didn't tell you and that I tried to run away without telling you and that I--."

"It's okay," Julian said. "You're here now. Everything is out on the table. If Amunet Black or Eyepatch Guy ever give you trouble again, we're all here for you."

"Eyepatch Guy? You mean Norvok?" Caitlin asked. "You know he's got a snake under there?"

"A snake? In his eye?" Julian asked.

"Another loser of the meta-human lottery," Caitlin said.

"That horrifying piece of trivia aside, I mean it," Julian said. "We're all here for you. _I'm_ here for you. . . You don't have to go through anything alone. So no more secrets."

Caitlin nodded. "No more secrets."

"Good," Julian said going back to her stitches. "And for the record, if you do still need a place to stay while your apartment recovers from your unintentional water damage, you are more than welcome to stay with me."

"I think I'll take you up on that," she said.

"Good, because it was a non-negotiable offer," he replied.

Caitlin smiled down at Julian and grabbed his hand on her arm. He looked up from her arm.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Caitlin nodded and leaned forward the short distance and kissed him. "I love you," she said.

"I love you," he said.

"And thank you for the stitches," she said.

"Well, after having done surgery on you, this is much less terrifying," Julian said. "And there's a much lower risk of you dying from complications as a result." He wrapped her arm with a thin bandage and she pulled on her sweatshirt. "Ready to face the firing squad?"

She hopped down from the table and wrapped her arms around him. She buried her face in his chest and he held her and kissed the top of his head.

"They can wait a little while," she said.

* * *

Back at Julian's apartment, Caitlin washed her hair and changed into pajamas. She washed her face, wincing as her fingers pressed against the part of her face that had skid against the pavement. Her arm and her back were killing her as well. That's what happens when you go up against powerful meta-humans who want to kill you after all.

Caitlin knew she was lucky to be alive. She'd planned to disappear completely until Norvok showed up at her apartment. If Julian and Iris hadn't taken it upon themselves to come over to her place tonight, if they hadn't wanted to check up on her, there's no way Barry would've known she'd needed saving when she did. They wouldn't know anything had happened to her until Joe called to tell them they'd found her murdered in the street in the shady part of town.

She grabbed a bottle of aspirin and swallowed them down with a mouth full of sink water.

When she walked out into Julian's bedroom she could hear the unmistakable voice of Cisco.

"I'm telling you, you can't even taste the gin in my gin and tonic. That's how good it is," Cisco said.

"Nothing makes gin taste good, Cisco. We've been over this," Iris replied.

"You've just got baby taste buds. Your fiancé loves gin," Cisco said.

"You said you hate gin," Iris replied as Caitlin opened the door. Barry was snaking an arm around Iris' shoulder and he kissed the top of her head.

"I love you," he said.

They were all standing around the counter in Julian's kitchen. Caitlin stepped over to them.

"There you are," Julian said. "We were afraid you'd gone to bed."

"That was the plan," she admitted. "But then I heard you guys out here."

"We decided that since we were going to come over anyway and force you to be a part of our Self-Care Saturday anyway, that after nearly being murdered you definitely needed some self-care more than ever," Iris said. She walked over to Caitlin took her by the arm and led her to the couch. Caitlin took a seat and Iris motioned to someone behind her.

"Got it," Cisco said. She heard him shuffle up behind her. "Close your eyes." Caitlin did as instructed and then WHACK!

"Hey!" she exclaimed, startled by the whack on the top her head.

"Sorry, but someone needed to go upside your head for all your shenanigans today. Just know that it comes from a place of love," Cisco said. "Now close your eyes again."

"Don't whack me again," Caitlin warned him.

Cisco shushed her and Caitlin closed her eyes. She felt what was obviously a face masked being laid onto her face.

"This one's got turmeric in it. It's supposed to help with the swelling. And we stuck it in the freezer for a few minutes too," Iris said.

"Yeah, I bought it because I thought I was looking a little puffy, but you need it more than me," Cisco said.

"Your sacrifice is very thoughtful," Caitlin said.

"You want a G and T?" Cisco asked.

"No thanks," Caitlin said. "I think gin tastes like lighter fluid."

Cisco groaned. "You're killing me. Your boyfriend's making mulled wine?"

"Sounds perfect," she replied.

"Mulled wine coming up," Cisco said. Iris sat down beside Caitlin, a glass of white wine in her hand.

"He is really pushing the gin tonight," Iris said. "Usually we just have wine, but he said ever since you pawned off part of you 'mixology' stash on him he's been feeling 'inspired.'"

Caitlin chuckled and relaxed into the couch. "Thanks for this. For making me do this."

"It's no big deal. I figured at the very least sitting around with a mask on your face and a drink in your hand would help you sleep," Iris said.

"Yeah," Caitlin said, "but Julian said it was your idea to show up at my apartment in the first place. You probably saved my life."

"You know we've always got your back, even me. Even if the only thing I can offer sometimes is emotional support," Iris said. "We're the only girls in this boys club. We gotta look out for each other."

"I'm sorry I've been so terrible at that," Caitlin said. "You keep trying to remind me that we're actually friends and I just keep shutting you out. I must seem like a jerk."

"I'd probably seem like a jerk if I was waiting around for someone to kill me too," Iris joked. "Really, it's water under the bridge. In fact, I wanted to ask you--."

"I'm telling you, it's Irish," Julian nearly shouted.

"Wikipedia says--." Cisco started

"Wikipedia is not a reliable source," Julian said.

Caitlin and Iris turned back to each other and shook their heads.

"They always do this. After their second glasses of wine, Julian is inevitably going to say that he went to Oxford and Cisco going to threaten to fight him if mentions Oxford again," Iris said. Caitlin laughed again, even though smiling hurt her cheeks. "But like I was saying. I need a maid of honor."

Caitlin stared at Iris in surprise. "Me? Really?"

"Yes, really," Iris said. "So are you in?"

"When I was at Oxford--."

"Oh. My. God. Dude, I will fly to England and burn Oxford to the ground."

"They filmed _Harry Potter_ there. You'd never destroy it."

"Damn you, you're right."

"You owe me, after leaving me alone with those two for six months," Iris said.

"Yeah, of course," Caitlin said. Iris reached over and the two girls embraced, happily. For the first time in a long time, Caitlin finally felt at peace. She felt safe.

A little while later the five of them were all gathered in Julian's living, sipping mulled wine and gin and tonics watching _The Birdcage_. Caitlin and Julian were curled up on the sofa together, with Iris and Barry at their feet on the floor. Cisco, refusing to be a fifth wheel seating companion, took the leather chair beside the couch.

"I can't believe you've never seen this movie," Iris said shaking her head.

"I don't think movies about a gay couple who owns a drag club were high on my parents' list of films they wanted me to see," Julian said.

"Nathan Lane's comedic timing is perfect," Cisco said.

"I still don't get why she lied to her parents in the first place or why he agreed to lie for her," Barry said.

"Because teenagers are idiots. Their parents were right. They don't need to be getting married," Cisco said. "God, wait until you see the plates. Cait snort-laughed when she saw the dinner scene."

They all instinctively turned to Caitlin, but she was fast asleep, her head on Julian's shoulder, holding an empty mug in her hands.

Barry sat up and grabbed the remote and shut the movie off.

"We can finish next Saturday," he said.

Cisco, Barry, and Iris quietly gathered their things and left. Julian turned off the TV and lifted Caitlin from the couch. She didn't stir at all, which wasn't surprising given the concussion and the mug of mug wine she'd had. Hopefully, she'd sleep until morning.

He carried her to his room and laid her down in bed before going around and turning off the rest of the lights in his apartment. He climbed into bed next to her and, to his surprise, she scooted closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I fell asleep," she mumbled.

"No one noticed," he said.

Caitlin chuckled. "You're lying, but I love you anyway."

He kissed her forehead. "I love you too. Go back to sleep."

She wrapped her arms around him and a few moments later she was asleep again.


	6. Let Your Last Night of Being Single Beging

Caitlin was surprised when she'd gotten a text message from Joe asking her to stop by the station to fill out some paperwork before going to STAR Labs later.

She'd done some work for CCPD a few times since she'd gotten back. Officially, she was contracted as a forensic and medical consultant. The work made it much easier to help Julian and Barry solve meta-human cases if she wasn't sneaking around the police and actually working with them.

When she arrived, she stopped by the lab first. Julian was inside, clicking away at his computer. She tiptoed inside and crept up behind him, covering his eyes.

"Guess who," she whispered into his ear, startling him.

"Jesus, you scared me," he said, turning around in his chair. "What brings you here?"

"Joe asked me to come by actually," she said. She kissed cheek as he closed his laptop.

"Funnily enough, I was just about on my way to see him as well. Something about paperwork," Julian said.

"I'm doing paperwork too. What a coincidence," Caitlin said.

"Or we're filling out the same paperwork," Julian said.

"I'm a contractor. What would they want us both to fill out?" Caitlin asked. Julian gave her a peck on the lips and she smiled.

"Guess we'll find out," Julian said. They walked to Joe's office. He was sitting at his desk talking to a woman. Julian frowned.

"Ugh, it's Tinsley Ainsworth," he grumbled.

"Who's she?" Caitlin asked.

"She works in human resources, but she's from England so she keeps looking for excuses to talk to me because she supposes it's enough for us to have in common," Julian said. "She keeps joking that you don't exist because she's never met you."

"Aww, someone has a crush on you," Caitlin teased. "She's adorable. You should ask her out."

Julian rolled his eyes.

"You're obnoxiously cheeky sometimes," he said.

"Hey, Joe!" Caitlin announced herself.

Joe and Tinsley looked up to the door and waved them over.

"Convenient you showed up together," Joe said. "Caitlin, this is Tinsley Ainsworth. She's in HR."

"Nice to meet you," Caitlin said.

"Wow, she does exist," Tinsley said. "Julian is always telling me about his girlfriend who's such good friends with Iris and Barry, but you never come around to visit. Iris is always here to see Barry and Joe."

"I don't get out of my lab often, but I definitely exist," Caitlin said.

"Well, that's good to know then. It means I haven't had Joe call you in for no reason," Tinsley said. "I've just got a form for you to fill out. Fraternization and all that fun stuff. Probably weren't aware that you'd need one since your girlfriend is a contracted employee, but all the same. A little signature is all I need."

"Oh, is that all?" Caitlin asked.

"Yep," Tinsley said. "Unless of course, your relationship isn't serious. I mean, if this is just casual then we won't have to bother with it."

Caitlin and Julian both chuckled at the same time.

"I think we're pretty solidly beyond casual," Caitlin said.

"Well, then," she said, sitting the form out. "Sign away."

Julian and Caitlin reviewed the form and signed it. Tinsley took the form and put it in a manila folder.

"I'll just stop by and leave copies of this on your desk later," Tinsley said. "You and Barry are back in on Monday, yeah? Joe says you're going to Barry's bachelor party tonight. That sounds fun."

"Should be," Julian said, seeming eager to get a move on. "Need anything else from us?"

"Nope you and Miss Snow are all good," she replied.

" _Doctor_ Snow," Julian corrected her.

"Oh!" she replied, taken aback slightly. "Doctor? Well, that makes sense. You're a scientist. You've got a Ph.D. then?"

"And two doctorates," Julian said.

Caitlin chuckled, feeling her cheeks flush. She placed a hand on his shoulder. Joe was sitting at his desk seeming partially amused and partially uncomfortable.

"Sometimes I think he knows my academic record better than I do," Caitlin joked.

"Well, with a record like that, I'd want to make sure I was acknowledged too," Tinsley said. "Anyway, I won't hold you three up from the rest of your day." She gave a polite wave and exited the room.

"Maybe now she'll leave me alone," Julian said.

"She's not that bad," Caitlin said.

"From the way Barry tells it, the girl wasn't taking a hint," Joe said.

"Clearly. And that crack about not needing to sign it if were just casual? The nerve," Julian huffed.

"Well, it's over. And she knows I'm not some girl you made up to make her leave you alone so maybe she'll take the hint now," Caitlin said. "I'd kiss you, but I just signed that contract about no PDA in the workplace."

Julian rolled his eyes. "I'll see you this evening, Joe."

He waved them goodbye and he and Caitlin walked from his office.

Julian offered to drive Caitlin to STAR Lab, so she followed him to his car.

"Did you mean what you said upstairs, that we're well beyond being casual," Julian said.

Caitlin chuckled as he unlocked the doors. "Of course." She opened the door and climbed into the passenger seat. A moment later, he was in the car beside her. "I mean, since I've gotten back, we've basically been pretty much full speed ahead."

Julian nodded and pulled out his phone. "You know, my lease is up at the end of the month. I've been looking into getting a bigger place." Caitlin's phone dinged as Julian started the car. "I just sent you the layout for one of the apartments my landlord showed me. They're quite nice."

Caitlin clicked open her phone and opened his message. "Wow, a walk-in closet and an on-suite bathroom in the master bedroom? It's 1700 square feet. That's a lot of space. What would you even do with it all."

"Well, ideally," Julian said, watching the road intently. "I'd be sharing with you."

"Me?" Caitlin asked. "Like. . . Move-in with you? Permanently?"

"Yes," Julian said. "I mean, even before Killer Frost decided the best course of action was to flood your apartment, you were over all of the time anyway. Your lease is month to month and you hate that apartment anyway. It all just. . . Seems to make sense. For us both to start over somewhere new, together."

Caitlin nodded. Everything Julian was saying was true. And the idea of living with him wasn't something that she hated. It sounded nice even. Right now, all of her necessities were overrunning Julian's apartment. She lived out of suitcases and duffle bags. All of her important furniture had been moved into storage at STAR Labs to keep them from getting ruined by water damage. The only things she had left at her apartment were basically dishes, a few cheap kitchen appliances, a miscellaneous odds, and ends.

It would be so easy to just start over. She didn't even really think of that apartment as home anymore. Now, at the end of the night when she told Cisco or Harry that she was going home, it was to Julian's apartment.

"You don't have to give me an answer right now, or today even, and if you don't want to move in with me right now, I completely understand and I'm not going anywhere," he said quickly. "But, you know. . . I'm ready when you are."

"Yeah, I guess. . . I never really thought about it before," she replied. "Just let me think about it."

* * *

Arriving at STAR Labs, they could hear a lot of chatter down by the lab so they headed straight there. Caitlin was excited to Felicity and Oliver there.

"There she is!" Felicity exclaimed, arms outstretched. She embraced Caitlin excitedly before draping a feather boa over her shoulders.

"Oh, jeez, Felicity, what is this?" Caitlin asked.

"It's supposed to a lowkey night, and she swears it will be," Iris said.

"You can have feather boas and still be lowkey," Felicity insisted, shooting Caitlin a wink when Iris wasn't looking. "Where have you been?"

"Yeah, you're the two scientists we needed when we were measuring how far Ralph could go," Cisco said.

"And I've got quite a lot of length, just so the ladies know," Ralph said.

"I guarantee you that absolutely no one cares," Julian said dismissively, studying the results they'd gotten from Ralph on the computer screen.

"You must be Julian Albert," Felicity said. "I'm Felicity Smoak. We've been email buddies for a while."

"Yes, Miss Smoak, it's a pleasure to meet you in person at last," Julian said shaking her hand.

"And this is Oliver Queen," Caitlin said giving him a hug. "He's a good guy. He's saved my life a few times. And occasionally some other people in Star City."

"Yes, I've heard," Julian said, shaking Oliver's hand. "It makes sense that you'd be the one to make Allen competent enough to save anyone."

Oliver chuckled and then glanced over at Barry incredulously. "Barry's your friend?"

"Yep, even though what he said makes it sound like he isn't," Barry said.

"Where have you guys been though? I thought you were going to be here a while ago," Iris said.

"Joe had us come down to the station to fill out some paperwork courtesy of Tinsley Ainsworth," Julian said with a scoff. Barry and Iris both giggled.

"You got to meet Tinsley?" Iris asked with a chuckle.

"Yes. She's adorable," Caitlin said. "Apparently she didn't think I was real because I never visit."

"She just doesn't get that I only visit to try to force my dad and Barry to be my sources," Iris said. "And I also don't have a passing resemblance to wanted meta-humans."

"Well, whatever Tinsley thinks, she's most annoying. I've told her explicitly to stop speaking to me more than a few times and she laughs it off as if I'm joking," Julian said.

"Julian, we've discussed this," Cisco said. "You're unbelievably rude. Literally. People can't believe that you're as rude as you are so they think you're joking. Especially chicks. That hear a British accent and their common sense turns off."

Caitlin and Iris started to protest but, Felicity shushed them.

"Now, Iris, I know you're spoken for, but Caitlin, let's not lie Julian here would be a good enough reason to turn your common sense off," Felicity teased.

That's when Caitlin realized Felicity was only a few moments away from yelling at her.

"As it turns out, Caitlin is already spoken for also," Julian said, "As evidenced by the aforementioned Tinsley Ainsworth making us sign a 'consensual romance in the workplace agreement' form."

"Ooh, a love contract," Cisco teased.

"It's not a love contract," Caitlin said.

"I don't know; it sounds a lot like a contract that your job makes you sign because you're in love," Cisco said.

"And here I just thought it was just further evidence of what a litigious society America's become," Julian said.

"Yeah, I bet," Felicity said snaking an arm around Caitlin's waist. "Will you excuse us for a moment? Iris!"

Iris followed as Felicity dragged Caitlin from the room.

"Caitlin!" Felicity scolded her as soon as they were out of earshot of the lab.

"What?" Caitlin asked.

"Don't you 'what?' me. That cute, British man in there is your boyfriend?" Felicity asked. "This is new, right? Because you wouldn't have kept something like this from me."

"They're super serious," Iris chimed in before Caitlin could speak. "Before she went AWOL they were together and as soon as she came back they were even more serious."

"Thanks, Judas," Caitlin said.

"Hey, I'm the bride today. I can snitch all I like," Iris said, pointing to her plastic tiara.

"I cannot believe you kept me in the dark about this," Felicity said, pulling them into the cortex. "How serious are we talking?"

Caitlin shrugged, but there was something nagging at her today that she couldn't just brush off. Iris and Felicity could both see it on her face.

"Well, I've been staying with him since my apartment was flooded about two weeks ago," Caitlin said pulling out her phone. "After we left CCPD, Julian mentioned that the lease on his apartment was ending and he could renew it, but he's also been looking at a bigger space in the building." She held out the phone to the other girls.

"Oh, very nice," Felicity said. "Is that a double vanity in that bathroom?"

"Yes," Caitlin said. "He wants me to move in with him. Like, permanently. Like for real."

"Oh, my god! What did you say?" Iris asked.

"That I'd think about it," Caitlin said with a shrug. "I'd never even thought about it. I mean, all of my things are at his place anyway, and I'm there all of the time anyway. I don't hate the idea."

"You don't hate it?" Felicity asked.

"I wanted to say yes," Caitlin admitted. "But then, I don't know. . ."

Felicity let out a deep breath. "You've really kept me out of the loop for too long. Maybe if I'd known from the beginning I'd know how to better help you."

"Felicity," Iris started to say.

"You're right. This night is about you," Felicity said, backing off. "But later, we're going to have a discussion, Miss Snow."

"Doctor Snow," Caitlin said, without even thinking. Felicity looked slightly taken aback. "Sorry. Julian just doesn't let anyone call me _Miss_ Snow. It's always _Doctor_ because apparently I didn't spend all that time and money in school for people to call me Miss. I guess he rubbed off on me."

Felicity placed her hands on Caitlin's shoulders. "I’m going to say this to you in the least pushy way that I know how. . . But marry that boy."

* * *

When they arrived at the restaurant, Cecile was there waiting for them. Felicity gave her a feather boa and they all sat down together to eat. They got a bottle of champagne and toasted to the future Missus West-Allen. 

"Okay, who wants mine?" Cecile offered.

Caitlin volunteered and gulped the whole thing down, still kind of nervous about the evening.

"I know tonight is all about Iris, but I feel obligated to also interrogate Caitlin now because I'm so outraged that you'd keep Julian from me," Felicity said.

"I'm on board with this," Iris said. "Let's all make Caitlin uncomfortable. I'm wearing a tiara so I make the rules."

The girls all laughed. Caitlin sipped her champagne.

"I have told you all there is to tell," Caitlin said. "Promise."

A waiter walked over with a tray of drinks and sat it down.

"Oh, we didn't order these," Iris said.

The waiter pointed across the room to a table of older, gray-haired ladies, smiling and waving politely at them.

"The ladies saw you were having a bachelorette party and wanted to send you something a bit stronger than champagne to celebrate," the waiter said. He sat the drinks on the table. "Long Islands. I'll bring you some more waters."

"Thanks," Iris said.

Felicity reached across the table and sat Cecile's drink in front Caitlin.

"Why do I have to drink it?" Caitlin asked.

"You drank her last one. Plus you need to relax a little. Try to have fun. As a matter of fact, Iris, what's your poison?" Felicity asked.

Cecile laughed as Iris shook her head.

"No, no, no, we are not doing shots, Felicity," Iris said.

"Just one round, I promise," Felicity said. "And that'll be that."

That was not that.

Between the champagne, the long islands, and the _two_ shots Caitlin and Iris had to do ("You have to do one for Cecile," Felicity had said, "and Iris, it's your party; you have to do two.") Even after two glasses of water and dinner, she was still feeling much drunker than she'd thought she'd be.

Thankfully she was in good company with Iris.

Cecile had thought it would be a shame for them to end the evening prematurely after dinner and so they'd taken an Uber to a bar across town where there was karaoke, more food (of lesser quality) and cheaper drinks.

"I didn't think I was gonna be drunk tonight, but it's kind of okay," Iris said nodding as she sipped her drink: spiced rum, ginger beer, and lime. Caitlin was having another long island. "Like, this is really fun."

"I'm glad you're having fun," Cecile said. "You know, your father told me they were supposed to be staying in and watching home movies all night."

The girls all exclaimed in disappointment.

"They can watch movies in the house any day," Felicity said. "Not that going and drinking makes you cool, but at least we're doing something."

"Amen," Iris held up her glass. "Here's to being cooler than my fiancé and a bunch of lame boys."

The girls all clinked glasses and "Wooed!" in excitement. Caitlin knew she was definitely drunk because she never "wooed" under any circumstances.

A bartender came over and sat a tray of shots down for them.

"For the bachelorette party, on the house," she said.

The girls wooed again. Iris quickly took two of the shots and Caitlin was glad to not have to clean up for Cecile this time. She took her own shot and set the glass down.

"I'm not usually a tequila person, but I think the more you drink the more it doesn't matter," Felicity said.

"I agree," Caitlin said, returning to her own drink.

"Are you having fun, Caitlin?" Iris asked.

"Yes," Caitlin said.

"Good. I'm glad you came. And I'm glad Julian went with Barry," Iris said.

"Me too! Sometimes I have feel like I have to call Julian to make sure he hasn't murdered Barry at work," Caitlin said. "But I think they're really friends now."

* * *

Ralph had been an unexpected guest at Barry bachelor party, but at the very least he was keeping things interesting. They were smoking cigars and drinking high-end bourbon and, Ralph had insisted they go to a more interesting spot, and they said they would after they finished their drinks.

Julian didn't go out of his way to drink too often. Caitlin was pretty bored of it after working in a bar for six months, so more often than not they had a bottle of wine together and that was it. Even when Caitlin had been gone, he'd relegated himself to two or three glasses of wine when he'd be with Iris and Cisco. There wasn't much else.

As a result, the two glasses of bourbon he'd had tonight so far, on an empty stomach were hitting him a bit. Even Cisco seemed a bit more loose than usual.

That's when Julian's phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and saw Caitlin's name.

"Hey, no chicks," Cisco said. "That's a rule."

"Let me make sure it's not an emergency," Julian said.

"Put it on speaker so we know you're not colluding," Oliver said, standing behind where Julian sat on the couch. Oliver Queen was one of the most intimidating, yet kind, people that Julian had met. The fact that he was the Green Arrow and friends with Barry was kind of mind-blowing.

Julian answered the phone and put it on speaker. The whole room went silent to eavesdrop.

 _"—glad they respect each other, to each other's faces anyway."_ This wasn't Caitlin's voice.

"Is that Iris?" Barry asked.

 _"No, he's way nicer about Barry behind his back than he is to his face. I don't know. Boys are weird."_ This was definitely Caitlin.

"Caitlin?" Julian asked into the phone. But there was only laughter. "I'm going to hang up. I think she accidentally called—"

"Hold up," Cisco said, holding up a hand as Felicity chimed in.

 _"So you two are like really serious?"_ she asked.

 _"I already told you,"_ Caitlin said.

 _"Suuuuuuuuper serious,"_ Iris said. The boys all chuckled.

 _"Can I get another long island? Thank you?"_ Caitlin chimed in.

"Long Islands? You're gonna hold her hair back tonight for sure," Cisco whispered.

Julian nodded in agreement. Iris, Caitlin, and Felicity all sounded pretty drunk, especially Caitlin and Iris. Another drink wasn't going to help.

 _"It just seems like a silly question. I already told you this morning he asked me to move in with him,"_ Caitlin said.

"Bro, what?!" Cisco said in a loud whisper as all eyes turned on Julian. "I guess you guys are 'Suuuuuuuuper serious.'"

 _"Are you gonna?"_ Felicity asked.

There was silence on the other end of the phone. The noise of the bar could be heard in the background. Around Julian, everyone was also silent, staring at the phone waiting.

 _"I said I would think about it, but I really just wanted to say yes,"_ Caitlin said.

No jeers or cheers from anyone in the room. They were all still silent, listening.

 _"Why didn't you?"_ Cecile asked.

 _"I don't know. I like, really, really, really love Julian, but like, what if I screw it up? What if it's just too fast and boom, I mess it up,"_ Caitlin said.

 _"Cait, real talk, real talk,  you just gotta, you just gotta leap. Just do it,"_ Iris said. _"Last Christmas I bought Barry a wallet, but he. . . He got us that loft. And_ now _we're getting_ married _. Sometimes you gotta just. . . You gotta just pull a Barry Allen. You gotta just do it."_

 _"Isn't that Nike?"_ Felicity asked.

 _"No it's Barry. You gotta just, like, boom, go for that shit and not even think about it,"_ Iris said. _"Cait, you should just, strap on your Barry Allen Nikes and just do what makes you happy. You deserve to be happy."_

"I'm gonna throw up," Ralph said dramatically as Caitlin thanked Iris.

 _"And if happiness isn't enough, just think about getting to wake up to that accent every morning,"_ Felicity said. _"Oliver might look like he's carved out of marble, but you can't buy that accent."_

 _"It doesn't hurt, no,"_ Caitlin said.

Ralph scoffed again. "I don't know what it is about American girls thinking that you're more attractive by default just because you've got a British accent."

 _". . . Did you hear that?"_ Iris asked.

 _"Yeah, it almost sounded like--oh my, god, my phone is on!"_ Caitlin said. _"Oh my god, it called Julian!"_

Julian leaned forward and shut the phone off.

"A room full of geniuses and not one of you thought to press the 'mute' button while you eavesdropped," Joe chuckled, taking a sip of his whiskey.

"Astonishing," Harry agreed.

"We did assume no one was going to start shouting during the call," Cisco said, turning a glare toward Ralph.

"I think we shouldn't have been eavesdropping in the first place," Julian said.

"But then we wouldn't have heard that you asked Caitlin to move in with you. When this did this happen?" Cisco asked.

"Just this morning," Julian said.

"You should have Caitlin move in with you. Doesn't she basically live with you anyway? It's only fair that she starts paying rent," Ralph said.

"You know, Dibny, I have a sinking suspicion that you're going to be alone forever," Julian said.

"I happen to entertain my fair share of the ladies," Ralph replied coolly.

"Really? How many of them let you entertain them when you're not paying for it?" Julian asked. Oliver restrained a laugh behind him.

"Julian, I think it's great," Barry chimed in, bringing them back to their original topic. "I mean, you and Caitlin have been together for a while and she does spend most of her time at your place anyway, even before it got flooded," Barry said. "And she's super happy. Don't let these guys make fun of you."

"I'll tell you who is making fun of us," Ralph said. "The ladies, for us sitting here while they're out having a good time."

"We're going out," Cisco said. "We've got a reservation at the nicest steak restaurant in Central City and--."

Ralph scoffed again. "So you can pay $50 for a steak? I know a place where the whiskey is cheap, the steaks are $10 and the view is magnificent."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added Oliver to the bachelor party because there's no way in the world Iris would invite Felicity, but Barry not invite Oliver. I just feel like he would've been there because Barry was the first baby superhero he trained and dammit he wants to be a part of this wedding that Barry wrecked the timeline several times for.


End file.
